The guest
Yannis Pappas: Greek-American stand-up comedian and podcaster (host of The Yannis Pappas Hour)
What this episode covers
Joe Rogan welcomes comedian Yannis Pappas for a sprawling, free-associative conversation. They open on Greek history, ancient psychedelics and the birthplace of democracy before moving into a candid discussion of trauma, where Yannis details his EMDR therapy for panic attacks that began after he was shot in his early 20s. The bulk of the episode is conspiracy and media-skepticism territory: Epstein, 9/11, Russian troll farms, the Whitmer kidnapping plot, January 6th, and how foreign governments manipulate online narratives. They also speculate about AI, real-time translation phones, brain chips and 'mind reading,' and weigh in on Israel-Gaza, the US border, and immigration. It closes on the personal: fame's corrosive effects, plagiarism in comedy, and the challenge of balancing the road with raising kids.
Recommended on this episode
MediaRecommended
Leave the World Behind
Netflix
“I loved it... I like the theme of it”
“I loved it you loved it loved it yeah... I like the theme of it like liked how they kind of turned on each other a little bit”— Joe Rogan
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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Samsung
“this is like the best smartphone that you could buy right now”
“this galaxy I this is like the best smartphone that you could buy right now this is the beginning and then what this is really is like Atari”— Joe Rogan
ProductRecommended
Ground News
Ground News
“I love ground news”
“ground news I love ground news I don't know what the sources are like if they're on the ground what they're what they're doing is they're trying to do it without a leftwing or a right-wing spin”— Joe Rogan
Also referenced (named, not recommended)
BookReferenced
The Immortality Key
Brian Muraresku
“have you um ever read that book um the immortality key no it it's about the ucini and Mysteries it's this guy Brian M rescu”— Joe Rogan
BookReferenced
The Body Keeps the Score
Bessel van der Kolk
“there's a book called um the body keeps the score by I think his name is Bessel he's a psychiatrist and he's responsible for all these Trauma Centers”— Yannis Pappas
MediaReferenced
Gone Girl
“the media did that to this couple and they because the movie Gone Girl was out at the time so they just started calling her gone girl”— Yannis Pappas
MediaReferenced
Maid in Manhattan
“we did movie night the other night we watched Maid in Manhattan you ever watch that no Jennifer Lopez a hot maid and Ralph fines”— Yannis Pappas
MediaReferenced
Game of Thrones
“imagine if those are the white walkers yeah they would they kill everybody in Game of Thrones”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Galaxy earbuds
Samsung
“it would also translate it if you're wearing I think the Galaxy earbuds it'll translate it in audio so it'll give you whatever that person's saying in English”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Rabbit R1
Rabbit
“robot imagine reimagines the digital experience with AI powered R1 device what is that rabbit what is it's got shown at CES”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
ChatGPT
OpenAI
“with chat gbt you could go on there now and go give me a joke in the style of Joe Rogan and it'll give you a joke”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Grok
xAI
“they already have an AI That's attached to it was it called grock yeah why is it called Gro what does grock stand for”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
1440
1440
“there's got to be a good news what is that 1440 news is that what it's called... I signed up for it I don't remember what it is they're trying to just give you facts with no narrative”— Yannis Pappas
ProductReferenced
Spotify
Spotify
“I don't really want Spotify Spotify is pretty good yeah... Spotify kind of stuck by you during all these controversies”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Peloton
Peloton
“pelaton contacted him when he had Robert Kennedy Jr on and pelaton was like get rid of that episode... Dana White found out about it and threw out all the p pelons”— Joe Rogan
ProductReferenced
Apple Vision goggles
Apple
“how about the the Apple goggles are coming out that's the other part of it too is going to decide if you want to wear these goggles”— Joe Rogan
Big reveals from this episode
- Yannis reveals he does EMDR therapy twice a week over Zoom to reprocess childhood trauma and panic attacks that began after he was shot in his early 20s.
- Joe describes Brian Muraresku's finding that ergot, an LSD-like psychedelic, was in Eleusinian Mystery wine vessels, possibly fueling the experiences at democracy's birthplace.
- They claim a total of 12 informants were ultimately involved in the FBI's Gov. Whitmer kidnapping investigation, with key 'plotters' being undercover agents.
- Joe calls the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra the best smartphone you can buy and demos its real-time AI language translation.
- They argue Israel-Gaza is genuinely complicated, noting sympathy for Israel flipped within a couple of months after the October 7 attack as Gaza was leveled.
- They discuss Yale's Skull and Bones as a CIA-linked society for grooming powerful 'sociopaths.'
Worth remembering
- Alexander the Great became king at 20 and built one of history's largest empires by age 30, undefeated in battle.
- A large plane hit the Empire State Building in 1945 at the 79th floor and the building did not topple.
- 'Grok' means 'to understand' or 'fathom,' a word that originated from a science-fiction novel.
- The Rabbit R1 AI device shown at CES is set to cost about $200.
- A former FBI security analyst claimed up to 80% of Twitter accounts may be fake.
- New York City leased the Pakistan-owned Roosevelt Hotel to house migrants to help Pakistan's struggling economy.
- A son of one of the Buc-ee's owners was charged with 28 counts of invasive recording at properties in multiple cities.
- Yannis says he only does stand-up about three nights a week so he can be home with his kids the other four.
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